Unwanted Ties
by Just Us Quiver
Summary: Voldemort has killed Harry, and are hunting down anyone who was close to him. The twins and Ron are the only Weasleys left, and the twins are desperate to do anything to keep their younger brother safe. Even if means turning him into a girl. DM/RW
1. Beginnings

DC: i do not own anything :x

"Ronnie. Forgive us, please." George whispered as he pulled his wand out. Ron was sitting in the demolished kitchen, his eyes full of tears. "You'll be safer this way. They'll keep coming for you until they get you. Like they got Hermione and Mum and Dad and Bill and Fleur and…" George trailed off. Ron did not need to be told. He knew everyone that had been related to Harry even remotely had been killed. Only the twins and he remained. George pointed as his body and Ron felt his body heat up. He held his shoulders, and even though he was expecting it, he was shocked by the mounds of flesh on his chest and the lack of… well, anything between his legs. "You're a pretty girl." George smiled softly. Fred was working on his hair, lengthening the bright auburn locks. His hair flowed down in natural waves to his waist. Ron felt small, weak, and wondered if this was how girls felt all the time. "Ronnie, your body's basically a girl's body now. It's got less stamina, less strength. You have to be careful, okay? Don't lose your wand. Ever."

Fred hugged him tightly. "We'll meet again, Ronnie, I swear." He pointed his wand to Ron's throat. "Relax, Ronnie." He whispered, and Ron looked at a trail of something golden follow the tip of Fred's wand. Fred placed the golden stream into a small locket around his neck. "I'll keep it safe. The Malfoys… they're not mean people, Ron. They'll take care of you, as long as they don't know you're you. Pretend you've lost your memory… stay still for a bit… this is going to hurt a little…"

George closed his eyes. He did not like the part where he and Fred had to actually hurt Ron. George set down to rip the clothes in tatters, and Fred bit his lip as he cut deep slashes in his baby brother's body, making the black robes damp with blood. Ron's eyes were flickering, probably from the loss of blood, when the two heard a sharp, "Who goes there?" The two instantly Disapparated, Fred remembering to plant a kiss on Ron's forehead.

Draco Malfoy parted the bushes roughly to find a girl, about his age, unconscious and bleeding. His eyes widened. She was a witch, from the looks of it. A wand was a bit away from her, bloody like her hand. Her clothes were tattered and she was bruised and bleeding, her red hair dirty from the ground. "What the… Hey, hey. Wake up." He took her into his arms and she opened her eyes weakly. Stunning blue. Where had he seen that shade before? "Who are you? What're you doing here? You're dangerously close to private property. What happened to you?" The girl opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out. She looked confused and grabbed at her throat, and tried to speak again. "Did someone attack you?" She nodded. "They must've taken your voice. They can do that, you know." She looked like she was going to faint again, so Draco picked his wand up and started to dress the wounds. "What's your name?" She stared blankly at him. "What, do you not have one?" Another blank stare. "Er… Can't remember?" She nodded slowly. "Huh. Must've wiped your memory clean, too. D'you remember who attacked you? Oh wait, I guess you wouldn't, if you had your memory wiped…" He picked her up, surprised her light weight. "I don't think my parents will mind you here."

Ron stayed as still as he could. He felt strangely comfortable, even though he was bleeding all over a follower that had killed all but two of his loved ones. _You'd be safe there… as they say, it's the darkest under the light…_ He leaned on Draco's broad chest and he tried to suppress his tears, but his shoulders shook. "Don't cry. I'll be here for you." Ron looked up in shock. Draco was smiling warmly at him. "You're confused, right? It's all right, I'll take care of you."

"Draco." A light voice greeted both as Draco walked in. "Oh my. Who is this lovely young lady? Oh! You're hurt!"

"I found her just outside. She was unconscious. I patched her up a bit… No memory, no voice."

Narcissa's face fell in pity. "Oh, you poor, poor thing. Bring her up here, Draco. Is that her wand?" Draco nodded. "Lovely. By any chance, sweetheart, does your hips hurt… at all?" Ron shook his head, bewildered. "That's good. There are wizards that just gang up on one witch, rape her and erase her memory… horrible thing, really…" Narcissa opened the door to a large room. "You can use this room, right next to Draco's. Of course you'll stay with us, unless you have a place to stay." Ron shook his head again. "Oh, you poor thing. I don't think you can get memories back if you've wiped them… oh! Lucius. Draco's found her outside. She doesn't have any memories or anything. Oh, Lucius, let's take care of her! I've always wanted a little sister for Draco." Narcissa's sleeve fell as she gestured, and Ron saw the Dark Mark on her arm. He fought down his disdain and tugged at Draco's sleeve. When Draco looked down at him, he pointed to Narcissa's arm, to the mark slightly showing on Lucius' arm and the mark on Draco's arm. "Oh. Oh, sweetheart. Do you now know what this is?" She sat down.

"Very natural." Lucius snorted. "Those wizards must have known nothing when they wiped the memory. They could have just wiped the memory of the incident, but to wipe the name and past memory... even of our great Lord… Foolish wizards." Lucius looked at Ron. "She is rather beautiful. You're sure she's a witch?"

"She's got a wand, Lucius… And she's wearing a witch's robes."

"All right, all right. Why don't we introduce her to the Dark Lord later." Lucius sighed. "Draco, you're in charge of taking care of her wounds. Narcissa, I'm sure you want to get her clothes to fit… And I'll take care of helping you with relearning your spells." He smiled gently at Ron. Ron blushed. So they were humane, like Fred and George had said. They were a normal family, just on the other side. He smiled back.

"This is lovely!" Narcissa smiled. "Let's get you all clean. Oh, dear, we must give you a name. Hmm. Well, that can come later. Draco, dear, prepare the room for the lady, while I wash her." Narcissa whipped her wand and Ron felt himself being lifted out of Draco's strong arms and into the air. Narcissa levitated over to the bath, and started to strip his clothes. "You've got lovely skin," she marveled. "Porcelain white." Narcissa smiled. "And your hair… lovely. Come, dear, into the bath." With another wave of her hand, the faucets had started, and warm water filled the large bath. Ron stepped in cautiously, looking at his female body for the first time. He blushed and focused on the bottle of shampoo. "Come here, near the edge." She soaked Ron's long hair in warm water, and shampooed it gently. "We'll go shopping for your clothes, but for now you'll have to do with my old ones, if you don't mind." Ron smiled vibrantly up at Narcissa, and the blond woman smiled warmly back. Then she looked up. "Maggie!" She snapped, and a house elf popped into view. "Go bring one of my old gowns for me. The silver one will do fine." The elf answered with a squeak and Disapparted, and then Apparated back when Ron was done. She was holding a silver robe, careful not to wet it on the floor. She followed Narcissa and Ron dutifully.

If Hermione were here, Ron thought, she definitely would not approve of how this house elf is treated. But no. Hermione isn't here. He fought against the tears, but one rolled down his cheek anyway. Narcissa caught it and immediately started to coo at her. "Oh, poor dear. You must be so scared and confused. It's all right, sweetie. We aren't bad people." Ron wanted to laugh in her face, but he just nodded. With a flick of Narcissa's wand, Ron's hair was dried and combed in a moment. The elf hurried over to dress Ron, and Ron complied quietly as the elf helped him slip the elegant gown on. Narcissa tapped her foot. "Hmm. Too loose around the waist, too tight around the breasts. My, sweetheart, you've got quite a figure." Narcissa tapped her wand against the dress and it reformed to fit Ron. "Beautiful." Narcissa smiled approvingly. "Maggie, go and fetch my jewelry box." Narcissa examined Ron's ears. "Hmm. We should pierce them. Don't worry, it's quick and painless." Ron flinched when Narcissa waved her wand and his ears burned for a short while. Maggie appeared with a giant wooden jewelry box. Narcissa opened it and picked out two pearl earrings, shaped like roses, and placed them in Ron's ears. "A present from me to you." A matching necklace and hairband went on him. "We'll go for more later. Maggie, go put them back."

"Mistress… Master told Maggie to tell Mistress that the Dark Lord will be here in moments."

Narcissa blanched. "What?!"

Maggie cowered slightly. "That is what Master told Maggie to tell Mistress."

Narcissa bit her bottom lip. "Yes, yes. Go on, Maggie, put the box back and prepare the dinner table. Set it for five, not just the usual four. I suppose we'll have to present the dear tonight. Oh, and call Draco here."

"Yes ma'am." Maggie squeaked, and she disappeared with a pop.

"Now, dear. The Dark Lord… He is the most powerful wizard of all time. That is all that you must know. He… He is unforgiving, but you just have to do well. He will like you, though. You're beautiful." Narcissa sighed. "I must leave, look after the arrangements. Draco will be here to escort you down when needed."

Ron watched the woman briskly walk away. He sat down on the chair in the dressing room and looked at himself in the mirror. He had to admit that the girl that stared back was pretty. The silver gown was slightly old, but it was barely noticeable. It was a strapless gown, and hugged his form tightly until it reached his hips, when it spilled out in ripples of silk. He wondered if he should do something about his hair, and ran his hand through it when he heard someone clear his throat. He turned to find Draco.

"You're beautiful." Draco smiled softly, and offered his arm. "Come. We mustn't keep the Dark Lord waiting." Ron took it hesitantly and Draco raised an eyebrow. "You're barefoot." He whispered softly. "Mother must have forgotten to give you shoes. One second." Draco raised his wand, waved it in the air and a pair of silver heels appeared. "Go on." Ron slipped his feet into them, wondering if he could keep standing. Draco chuckled when Ron wobbled. "All right, all right." Draco waved his wand again and the heels turned into flats, and Ron smiled in gratitude. The two walked down the stairs, and Ron tensed involuntarily when he saw Lord Voldemort sitting at the head of the table.

Come on, Ron. Occlumency. He cleared his mind and set a blockade. "My Lord, this is the girl we were talking about." Ron immediately felt the probe into his mind and he acted shocked. "Don't worry. He will not harm you." Ron fought off the disgust and relaxed, pushing his memories back and presenting him with the blank slate except for the memories since Draco found him. It wasn't too hard. He'd been training for so long under such strenuous conditions.

"Ah." The Dark Lord smiled at him. "So some clumsy wizards erased memories of… everything." He clicked his tongue. "Foolish ones." The snake-like eyes penetrated into him. He finally said, "You are quite beautiful." Ron startled at this. The Dark Lord, complementing someone? "And I am told you do not have a name." He leaned back in his chair. "I see Narcissa has given you earrings… and they suit you perfectly. How about Rose?"

"That's a beautiful name, my Lord." Narcissa agreed softly, and the Dark Lord nodded. "That's what we'll call you. Rose." She nodded at Ron.

Ron nodded, looking down at her plate that house elves were placing food on. The Malfoys had started eating when the Dark Lord picked up his fork, and Ron tentatively picked up his fork as well. Draco smiled. Follow me, he mouthed. He tapped the spoon, and Ron picked the spoon up as well and sipped the soup that Draco was sipping. He made a face, and heard Draco chuckle a bit. "It's okay. I don't like it either." Draco whispered, and Ron smiled at him. Throughout the course of the dinner, Ron eyed Draco to see what he should eat and what he should eat it with. He was paying slight attention to the conversation of the adults, but the names "George Weasley" and "Fred Weasley" had not come up.

He was in the middle of cutting his cake into edible pieces when the Dark Lord said, "How about the three Weasleys? Have they been taken care of yet?"

"The twins were seen without their younger brother." Lucius reported. "We assumed that the youngest brother is dead – the twins would never leave Ronald by himself, no matter what. One of the twins were wearing a necklace that the younger brother used to wear… I believe we can safely assume that he is dead, sire."

"Yes... the twins. They would never leave their darling younger brother." The Dark Lord picked up his wine and crushed it in his hands. "I wanted to kill the youngest one myself… See the pain and misery on the twin's faces before I kill them… Perhaps the twins killed their youngest brother themselves, to prevent me or a Death Eater from doing so." He chuckled. "Bring the twins to me." He looked up at Ron. "Red hair… That is the characteristics of a Weasley, is it not? They had a daughter." Ron froze when the red, sinister eyes glared into him.

"Ginevra Weasley was killed by Bellatrix, my Lord. It was quite pathetic, actually. She was trying to avenge Potter's death." Lucius laughed lowly, and Ron had to work hard to keep his fists from clenching in anger.

"Yes, yes." Voldemort nodded. "I do not remember them having a daughter of this age… or a second daughter, for that matter. Rose, come here." Ron fought down the urge to run and reluctantly made his way to the snake-like one's side. Voldemort took his arm. "Ah. Yes, very beautiful. She is to be Draco's wife, I presume." Ron's eyes widened. "No? Surely, Lucius, you cannot let such a witch go." Lucius only cleared his throat, and Draco was blushing furiously.

"My Lord, the Dark Mark on her…"

"Yes, yes. She won't need one. It would be a pity to see anything scarring that skin. And…" The Dark Lord rose to leave, but still held Ron's arm. "She may act as a valuable decoy." He smiled at Ron, one that chilled him to his bones, and Disapparated, somehow only taking himself even though he was still holding on to Ron.

Draco hastily rose. "Mother, Father, I'll be taking Rose around the house. Show him the stables, amongst others." He took Ron's arm, right where Voldemort had been holding moments ago. The two parents nodded, and Draco tugged on Ron's arm. Ron blinked to focus, and Draco smiled softly. When they were out of earshot of Draco's parents, Draco whispered, "The Dark Lord tends to have that effect on people. Come on, let me show you to the stables." Ron followed Draco wordlessly.

Draco smiled at him again, and pushed him ahead. Ron took in a sharp breath. A magnificent mare was in the stables, her mahogany body gleaming in the moonlight. She looked at him with deep, wide eyes, and Ron stepped forward to touch its snout. "Go on." Draco urged. "She's gentle." Ron placed a hand on the nose, and the horse nuzzled it gently. Draco placed sugar cubes in Ron's hands, and the mare lapped it up. "Her name's Artemis. She's beautiful, isn't she? I had a word with father, and she's to be yours." Ron looked at Draco, his eyes wide. "Don't worry about it. Here. The elves should have saddled her already, so let me help you ride her." Draco hoisted Ron up to the horse's back easily. "Hold the reins tightly. Don't worry, she won't let you fall. Come on, Artemis." Draco opened the gates so Artemis could walk out into the open air. "Stay here. I'll be back in one second."

Ron looked back, alarmed. He fumbled with the reins and was about to fall when the mare folded her legs so his legs were touching the ground. He blinked at her, and she neighed gently. He smiled and hugged the horse's long neck, nuzzling his cheek into the soft fur of her mane. Thank you, he thought.

"Well. I said she wouldn't let you fall." Draco said, his voice filled with amusement. "Gently, now, Artemis." The mare stood up slowly again, making sure her rider didn't slip off. "Rose, say hello to Apollo." A larger, black stallion whinnied next to Artemis, and the two horses greeted each other. "He's beautiful, isn't he? Come on, Apollo, just on a trot. Artemis, make sure Rose doesn't fall." The two horses started to trot, and Ron gripped Artemis' reins, but she was moving so smoothly Ron was pretty sure he wasn't going to fall. "Yes, you got it. Come on, Apollo. Artemis, follow me." The two horses sped up to a gallop, and Ron stiffened. "Relax, Rose. Artemis won't let you fall." Draco called back, and Ron relaxed about an inch.

About ten minutes had passed when Draco stopped Apollo, and Artemis caught up. Ron's breath caught in his throat. The moonlight shone through the thick trees onto a small lake, making it gleam silver. "Beautiful, isn't it? It's not too common these days where you find a place that's not damaged or burnt to the ground." Ron silently thought, Because of you Death Eaters. "It's peaceful here." Draco jumped off his horse and held his hand to Ron. "Come. You look like a goddess up there, in that dress. I'd rather not get my heart stolen so quickly." He smiled softly, and Ron blushed.

Ron took the hand and tried to slip off the horse, but his dress caught the saddle on one side and he was falling. He flailed, trying to gain balance and not to land on the ground headfirst. A strong arm took his waist and he fell on top of a warm body. Ron's eyes snapped open, and ice blue eyes stared back at him, amused.

Their lips were pressed firmly together from the fall.


	2. Findings

Disclaimer: I don't own… anything.

Warnings: slash, yaoi, whatever you want to call it, boy x boy. Slight hints of harry x ron.

--------

Chapter 2

--------

Ron gave a silent squeak and pushed off Draco. He sat in the grass, blushing as brightly as a tomato. "Well." Draco cleared his throat, obviously embarrassed himself. The two stayed apart for a bit, but Draco closed the distance. "Are you all right? No injuries?" Draco seemed to have already forgotten the kiss. "You know, you remind me much of someone I know. Someone I loved so much…"

Ron looked up, meeting Draco's icy blue eyes, which for some reason seemed sad. "The way your ears redden when you're embarrassed… He also had the same color eyes that you did. They were so beautiful. He'd get angry with me so easily… sometimes I did it just to spite him. I guess I wanted him to notice me. He didn't care about me otherwise, and I wanted some sort of emotion directed to me. He was so beautiful. Father thinks he's dead. His brothers have been seen without him, you see. Fred and George Weasley would never leave Ron Weasley alone. I guess it's safe to say he's dead."

Ron stared back in shock. Ron Weasley? Draco Malfoy was in love with HIM? Draco chuckled. "I know, I know. Pure-blood Malfoy in love with blood-traitor Weasley. Oh, and we're both guys, like that's no big deal." Draco looked out into the lake. "You remind me a lot of him. You two look alike, for one. Are you related to him?" Ron gave him a blank stare, unsure how to respond. "Oh, right. You wouldn't remember even if you did. I suppose it's a good thing you don't remember if you aren't related to him. You'd already be dead." Draco said that with such a straight face, Ron wondered how much people he'd killed to say something like that with a straight face.

Ron stood up and strolled to the lake. He pulled his slippers off and slipped a foot into the lake. _Cold!_ He shivered, but kept his feet in there, and sunk the other one in as well. His skin got used to the water's temperature and he splashed slowly, watching the fish that had come about swim quickly away again. He was too quickly amused, but it wasn't as if he had anything to do anyway. He was so absorbed in trying to trap a fish between the rocks and his feet he didn't even realize that Draco had come to stand over him. "Oh, I forget. Mother, Father and I'll be out all of tomorrow. You'll be at home alone, but you can come ride Artemis anytime. I think Mother's assigning an elf just to look after your needs." Ron looked up. "Of course, I reckon she'll also have a lot of things bought when she comes back home tomorrow night. Come on, let's talk on the way back, I don't want you to catch a cold in the night." Draco easily scooped the other boy off the ground and picked up the silver flats that Ron had left by his side. "We'll be fully galloping on our way back, so you'll ride with me on Apollo. Come, Artemis."

Ron startled as Draco pushed him on top of Apollo and climbed up after. "Don't worry." Draco smiled warmly. "Apollo's strong enough to carry at least five of you, you're so light. Giddy up, Apollo." While the horse ran full speed, Draco sighed. "There was someone there." Ron blinked. "I heard something, felt something. I cast a barrier so I'd know if someone crossed it, and someone did. That's why I was in such a hurry to get you out of there."

Ron looked back, and Artemis was carrying something in her mouth. He blinked, and realized it was a small package, a tiny one. He blinked, and looked up. Two figures, very far away, on broomsticks before they disappeared. Ron smiled and snuggled into Draco's arms. Fred and George had purposely done it to show themselves to him. _Thank you_, he thought.

Ron managed to take the small package from Artemis without Draco noticing, and snuggled into bed with it in his hand. "I'm next door if you need anything." Draco said. "Good night, Rose. Oh, I think mother had the elves put in some night gowns for you in the closet, check that." He pushed Ron's bangs back and planted a gentle kiss on Ron's forehead. Ron was so excited about the package he didn't even have time to be embarrassed. He made sure Draco had left the room and closed the door before picking the box up. The box grew silently in size, and Ron giggled silently.

_Ronnie. We write this letter since we figure if it's spoken, your caretakers will get suspicious. Also, the ink only responds to your touch, so don't worry about it. Um, I guess we should worry if you're with someone else. But I think you'd be more careful than that. We see you're getting cozy with Draco, little brother. _(Ron could just hear the teasing tones.)_ You really are beautiful. We thought you were an angel, from far away. We let Draco know we'd interrupted only after we'd gotten a good look at you. That horse, it likes you a lot. You have a true friend there. Ronnie, we love you so much. We're safe and okay, and we hope we've made the right decision and that you're safe and okay._

_With lots of love, _

_Fred and George._

_Ps. Inclosed are lots of things you probably missed… and a gift from us. Love you, Ronnie._

The letter burned away as he finished. He felt a tear drop but he knew it was needed. He reached into the box and pulled out the Deluminator that Dumbledore had given him. Memories flooded him and he fought the tears back, placing the object next to him. Next came the broken remains of the wands of Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Bill, Charlie, Percy, their parents, Fleur, Tonks… just about everyone who Fred and George and Ron had managed to get hold of. It had originally been a bunch of wood and strings, but they had burnt it and kept the ashes. The small jar of ashes was laid aside, and Ron reached into the box again. More little boxes of things came out, and lastly… a small box with a necklace, a pendant shaped like a small lightning bolt. Harry… He felt tears well up again and pushed it down forcefully. The last item in the box was a small teddy bear, one just like the one Fred had turned into a spider when he was little. Ron looked at the bear and smiled sadly. He hugged the teddy bear tightly and placed it gingerly on his bed. The box, once empty, disappeared into thin air. Ron took all the presents, placed them in a box and tapped it with his wand. Hermione had created a lot of spells when she was still alive, most of them easy, and Ron had learned to do some of them nonverbally. _H__elp me and Hide_, he thought. Now the objects would be not visible, detectable or summonable, except to himself. He placed them under the bed anyway – it just made him feel better.

He opened the closet to find three white night gowns. He picked the closest one and changed quickly. The white nightgown was a lot more loose, and more comfortable. He reached up to hang the silver gown on the hanger the nightgown had vacated, and walked to his bed.

He tested the bed. Good mattress, he thought. Firm but not uncomfortable. The pillows and blanket were fluffy. Goose down, probably, he noted dryly. Rich people. He snuggled into the blanket. He felt tears rise and this time he let it fall. Somehow it didn't feel right. George and Fred were out there, struggling to keep alive, and he was here, comfortable and safe. He curled up into a tight ball and cried himself to sleep.

-----------

"Mistress, mistress." Ron woke up sleepily to a house elf shaking her awake. "The Malfoys are leaving." He shot up in his nightgown and ran barefoot to the main staircase. Draco noticed, smiling, and must have told his parents, because they both looked up. Ron waved with all his might.

Narcissa laughed. "Go back to bed, dear. It's frightfully early in the morning. I'll have more gowns for you when I come back. Draco's picking up an owl for your use… for later, of course, when you make more acquaintances. I'll also bring back a pet for you to keep company when the three of us aren't here. Oh, and I've assigned an house elf for you, here." Narcissa took out her wand and made a small object levitate to Ron. Ron caught it in his hands. It was a small bell. "Just ring it when you need any assistance whatsoever. Her name's Ellie."

Ron watched the three Malfoys leave, and walked back to his room. He placed the bell on the bedside table and climbed back into bed. Narcissa was right. It _was_ frightfully early, and there was no way he was staying awake. It was a nice rest, one he hadn't gotten in almost a year. He sighed and wished Fred and George were as comfortable as he was.

When he woke up, a pair of large eyes were staring at him. He leapt back, his eyes wide. He would have shrieked, but his voice was gone. At least his mouth was open in silent shock. He clutched his heart, and heard, "Sorry! Sorry mistress! Ellie didn't mean to scare mistress, it's just that mistress was so pretty…" Ron sighed in relief. Once the elf had noticed Ron had calmed down, she presented Ron with a tray of breakfast. "Mistress Narcissa told Ellie to keep Mistress Rose asleep, so Ellie kept going back and forth to make sure Mistress Rose had a warm meal."

Ron took the tray and smiled at the elf, who bowed and disappeared. He picked up the piece of bread with his hands and started to chew on it, and heard a voice say, "Ronnie, that's not how you eat that." His eyes widened and he turned around, but nothing. "No, no, down here." The teddy bear was talking. And now walking toward him. Ron blinked. "Finally! I've been trying to wake you up for hours, but that god damned house elf kept popping in and out with her breakfast tray…" The teddy bear was talking with George's voice.

The teddy bear was talking. It took Ron a few seconds to process this, and he jumped out of his bed, staring at the bear. It was probably a miracle all the food landed on the plates. Or maybe it was magic. But all Ron could think about right now was that the teddy bear was talking in George's voice.

"Dear God, Ron. We've charmed the bear so we can keep an eye on you." Oh. Okay, that made sense. Ron climbed into the bed slowly again and set the bear on his lap. "You're supposed to dip the bread in the soup, dummy." The bear picked the bread up – it was quite comical, as the bread was about half his size and the bear was not very agile – and dipped it into the soup. Ron picked it up and ate it, and following George's instructions, finished his breakfast.

He rang the bell, gave the tray to the eager elf and summoned a pen and a piece of paper to him. _I'm gonna go for a ride on Artemis, so prepare lunch for when I come back, okay? _The elf nodded eagerly and popped back out. Ron tucked the bear under his arm and walked to the closet. He took the silver gown and stripped the night gown, setting the bear on the floor. He heard it sigh, and looked at it in question.

"Ronnie, you're a girl right now, remember? You have to take care of yourself. I'm a guy, so you shouldn't be stripping down in front of me." Ron hurriedly pulled the silver gown and the flats on, and grabbed the pen and paper. _But you're my brother._ The bear walked to him. "Ginny never stripped in front of us, remember?" Ron grabbed the pen again to protest, but the bear shook his head. Ron frowned, and the bear chuckled. "Let's just get out of here."

Ron grabbed the teddy bear, tucked it in securely underneath the black robes that were hanging there, and ran to the stables. Artemis greeted him with a soft whinny, and he struggled for a bit with getting on, but managed in the end and the horse trotted to where the lake was. Artemis folded her legs and sat down on the grass near the water, and Ron leaned on her and took the bear out. "You should set up charms so you know when people are coming." Ron did so immediately, procuring alarms all around him. "By the way, Fred's been bugging me since he woke up, so here you go."

"Ronnie." Ron smiled. He could tell Fred and George apart, even by just their voice. He never knew how he could do it. His mother got it right most of the time, but that wasn't always. Ron could always tell them apart. Plus, Fred's voice was warmer, much more caring when he talked to Ron. Ron figured it had something to do with the teddy-bear-into-spider incident. "How're things? Is Malfoy hitting on you? Don't let him do it, Ronnie." Fred sounded sincere and Ron smiled. He shook his head to reassure his brother. The only one he'd ever loved was… well, dead. He felt tears rise up and teddy-Fred made an awkward attempt at a hug. "Oh, Ronnie. I'm sure Harry's at a great place." Ron nodded, though he didn't want to think about Harry being at a great place without him. "How're you gonna hide the bear?"

Ron responded by mucking the bear with mud – to Fred's protests, and dunked it in water, scrubbing some parts clean. But since he'd piled so much muck on top of it, it didn't erase the best. He sensed someone entering his field, but did not let it alarm it. It was probably Draco.

"Rose, did you find that?" As he thought, Draco slid off Apollo and looked at the bear Ron was washing. "Well, you aren't going to get it clean like that. You have your wand on you, don't you? Yes, I thought you would, it's every wizard's and witch's third arm… even if you can't use magic, it's a good idea to have it on you. Something in your memory might trigger when you're in danger and you may be able to use magic. Anyway, here. You'll have to do it nonverbally, since you can't talk. The spell's _tergeo_, and you'll have to – here, focus your wand on the bear, like this - " Ron swore he saw the teddy bear's face frown in Fred's disapproval when Draco's hand went over his – "focus on the doll becoming clean, and think the word."

Ron faked failed attempts – one setting the bear on fire, the other making it fly uncontrollably in the air, yet another making it grow a second pair of eyes, and even changing the color to bright neon-pink – before he figured it was safe to get it right. He made it look like he was concentrating extremely hard, even though he had practiced so often with Fred and George the before his silencing so he could perform magic easily.

"Good. I suppose you want to keep the bear?" Ron looked at him with pleading, wide blue eyes, and he knew Draco could not refuse. He'd used this on Fred and George many times and it had always worked. He saw Draco blush furiously and mutter, "All right, all right, you can keep the bear, but let's go back. Mother's looking for you." Ron happily took the bear back and climbed on Artemis before she stood up. Even with his weight she stood back up easily, and he felt teddy-Fred – or maybe it was teddy-George now – poke his stomach.

It took less than five minutes to get back to the mansion, and Ron found himself getting more and more used to riding Artemis. When he came back from the stables Narcissa was already waiting for him. "Rose! Oh, I was so worried, but – oh, what is this?" Narcissa took the bear from him. "Did you find it? I can tell _tergeo_'s been used on it… One second, dear, I must check – this is for safety reasons – if there are any spells." Narcissa took her wand out and Ron froze in place, hoping Fred and George had thought about this before they decided to charm the bear. Narcissa swept her wand over it several times, and when she was satisfied, she handed the bear back to Ron and smiled. "Oh, you're still in that silly old robe. Here, I bought a whole closet full for you, oh, Draco has presents for you as well…" Narcissa kept talking as she led the two teens up the stairs.

Ron looked at Draco, who rolled his eyes and smiled. Ron smiled, and looked back up to where he was heading. When Narcissa opened his closet door, he paled. The drawer had been Extended, and hundreds of dresses unfolded before him. He blinked at the dresses and heard Draco sigh. "Mother." Draco said, and Narcissa only laughed giddily.

"I bought you matching earrings and shoes as well!" She opened the bottom two drawers with a swish of her wand, and Ron paled even more when he saw the sets upon sets of jewelry and shoes. "Oh, you'll be so presentable next week when we attend the little ball that the Dark Lord ordered for your presenting - " when Ron's eyes widened, Narcissa gasped. "How could I forget! The Dark Lord ordered that we present you to the other Death Eaters with a ball suitable for your looks. You'll be introduced to all the other members of our group, and oh… we'll have fun dressing you up." She noticed Draco's look and clapped her hands together. "But of course! Draco bought bunches of presents for you, and he wants to give them to you. I'll leave you two sweethearts alone."

She quite literally danced out of the door, and Draco sighed. "She really wants us to get together." Looking at Ron's face, Draco smiled. "Don't worry about it. It's too much on you, I know. Plus I told you… I have someone else I love. Even if he may be dead…" Draco held out a hand, and Ron took it. "Of course, you _do_ remind me of him…" The two walked to Draco's room. "Here." Draco pointed to something covered by a cloth. "He's yours."

Ron grabbed the cloth and yanked it off, and gasped. A magnificent midnight black owl sat in a cage, staring at him. "His name's Midnight – unoriginal, I know – and he's yours to use." Draco looked deep into Ron's eyes. "You have contacts, don't you?" Ron startled. "You're faking your memory loss, and your voice… it must have been taken out on purpose. Ellie told me you summoned a pen and paper to yourself with no difficulties." Ron stared at him. _Oh no._ "The bear. It's been charmed, too, hasn't it? I refuse to believe you just found a bear out of nowhere. And with _tergeo…_ you faked all those attempts. You're extremely good at nonverbal spells." Ron stared at him, wide-eyed.

The pair just stared at each other, Ron not knowing what to say at all. If he'd been found out, he didn't know what he'd do. Would he get kicked out of the household? He'd get brought to Lord Voldemort, tortured, raped, maybe, in this body, and finally killed. Would Fred and George be safe? What if there was a way to follow them through the bear, what if – "You aren't here to kill the Dark Lord, are you? You've been sent here to be protected." Ron didn't know what to say. How did Draco know so well? Suddenly Draco threw his head back and laughed. "But there's no way it could be. The Dark Lord himself looked through your mind. There was nothing there." He smiled sadly and pointed a wand at Ron's forehead. "Sorry, Rose. I'm just blabbering nonsense. There's no way the Dark Lord could have made a mistake. _Obliviate._"

Ron felt anger rise in him when he heard the spell, but knew he wouldn't remember it. As he fell backward, Draco caught him firmly. As his mind shut down, he felt a pair of lips on his own, and soft words. "Ron… it _is_ you, isn't it…?"


	3. Tormentings

Disclaimer: I don't own… anything.

Warnings: slash, yaoi, whatever you want to call it, boy x boy. Slight hints of harry x ron. Draco x Ron

--------

Chapter 3

--------

Draco laid Rose down on his bed and looked at the girl. She looked beautiful, there was no doubt about that. Her skin was as clear and white as the moonlight, but not sickly pale. Her blue eyes were deeper than the sea, bluer than sapphire and clearer than water. And her hair… it was as vibrant as Ron's had been, a breathtaking waterfall of tumbling amber. She was slender but had curves in all the right places. She was no doubt, a girl.

But in her sincere, soft smile he saw Ron's bright, playful, mischievous smile that he had often caught glimpses of. The red hair, the amazingly warm blue eyes. They all reminded him of Ron. It could be Ron. He hadn't heard of any cases where a male could be turned into a female for so long, but he was quite sure it wasn't impossible. Especially with Fred and George Weasley's level of magic…

But it wasn't possible. There was just no way. Lord Voldemort himself had looked into Rose's mind. It was blank. Draco knew it was easy to cheat Legilimency. If you focused on several things and just those at once, only those thoughts could be looked at. He'd done it many times with Lord Voldemort. He'd thought of his family's comeback, Harry Potter's death, his own wand shooting green jets of light… he'd never once thought of his feelings for Ron near the Dark Lord, and so no one knew. However, it was impossible to clear the mind, to think of nothing. There always had to be something related in the mind unless Rose was performing Occlumency with extreme skill. But Draco doubted anyone could have that kind of skill. Why, even Harry Potter succumbed to the power of the Dark Lord's powers. There was no way this fragile little girl could. And even if she were using Occlumency, the Dark Lord would detect the shields.

After he'd reached the conclusion, he felt extremely guilty about accusing Rose of such things and using the memory charm on her. Well, it was barely three minutes of memory, so he doubted it could do anything. And it would be safer for her, when the Dark Lord looked into her. But still. Midnight cooed at him disapprovingly, and Draco frowned. No, he was imagining it. An owl did not coo disapprovingly.

Draco saw the sapphire orbs slide open and immediately put on his worried face. "Are you all right? You just suddenly passed out, I don't know… maybe you aren't quite healed yet?" Rose blinked at him, obviously not remembering anything. She nodded dazedly and slowly, with Draco's arm around her, moved off the bed. When the color had returned to her cheeks and she looked steady, Draco let go. "Are you okay?" Rose nodded, smiling softly at him. It was so different from Ron's cheerful, bright smile and yet so similar. "Right, there's Midnight, and I got this for you, too…" Draco pulled a box out from his robes and handed it to Rose. "It's a ring." He stated rather obviously. Rose smiled again as she took it out. "Here, let me… I don't know if it fits, I just got it without thinking much about it…" He took the ring and slipped it into Rose's ring finger on her right hand. "It's perfect."

And Rose smiled at him.

-----------

The next day when Draco left, Ron held the wand in his hand. He could literally feel the ring pulsating with the magic that Draco had rigged it with, probably to monitor him visually and aurally. Now, how was he going to get rid of this without Draco noticing? He knew Draco was suspicious of him already. He knew what a Memory Charm felt like; Fred and George had already trained him well enough. He didn't know what memory was erased, but he knew _something_ was erased, and he was going to bet Draco had figured something out and then had erased the memory so Ron would not know he had. Ron placed the ring on the bedside table and turned away from it, pretending to sleep. He bit his lip and wondered how he was going to do so. He was going to have to make a duplicate of the ring, somehow, and pretend that the magic that Draco had placed on it had not worked.

He shot up and headed for the bathroom, leaving the ring on the table. He closed the door and tapped his wand on the sink, thinking. He had to somehow make it look like the ring's functions merely stopped working. "I think, Ronnie, that it's a better idea to just leave the ring be." Ron stared at the teddy bear. "Don't worry, we made sure we weren't seen. This bear can do a lot of things. You should just leave it. Just don't do anything suspicious. When we want to talk, I'll make sure that this teddy bear's hidden from view and we'll go to the bathroom or something. Don't give Malfoy anything else to be suspicious about, especially since you're sure he's performed a memory charm on you." Ron bit his lip. "I guess people notice the love of their life pretty easily. Still, I didn't think he would notice this fast. Also, we didn't know he loved you this much." Teddy-George sighed. "Be careful, Ronnie. At least we trained you so you'd know if you got wiped."

Ron nodded and walked back out, and flopped back onto the bed. He hadn't changed out of his nightgown yet, and he didn't really feel like doing anything today. He curled up and looked at the ring, and slipped it on. It fit him perfectly, and even if it was something that was given to him as a spy, it was quite pretty. He wasn't used to it yet so he'd taken it off while he was sleeping. He had to act as normal as possible. As if he was actually a real girl who had lost all her memories. He looked up at the ceiling and willed himself to fall asleep so he did not have to think about it anymore.

When he woke up, it was dark outside. He wondered how long he'd been sleeping for, and Draco walked in. "Finally." He smiled at her. "Father told me not to wake you because you looked so peaceful. But it's already night, you're going to have to go to sleep soon. Although, I think your body's still healing… It shouldn't matter too much." Draco eyed the ring on the table, and Ron almost laughed at how obvious Malfoy was.

He slipped the ring on hastily and walked to the closet and looked at Draco. "Huh? Oh, right." Draco turned around sheepishly, and Ron hurriedly changed into a dark green dress. He frowned at the laces in the back. He couldn't quite reach… He strode over to the bell on his bedside and rang it, and Ellie appeared immediately. Ron held the laces out to her and she smiled, motioning for her mistress to turn around. Ellie laced the dress up perfectly, not too tight and not too loose. The house elf even helped Ron brush her hair – for this part Draco had turned around and was eyeing Ellie closely – and to tie it up into a ponytail. "Ellie, I'll do the ribbon, you can go ahead and leave."

The house elf bowed and left, and Draco took the bow and tied it to the back. "Mother had these tailored specifically for you. I don't know when she took your measurements, but it seems they were right, since it fits you perfectly…" Draco stepped back to admire Ron. "You must have had a lot of guys after you. Not that you'd remember, of course…" Ron smiled politely. But he thought, no, that wasn't true, because Harry got protective way too easily. He missed Harry. He remembered how Harry had died, protecting him until the end… A tear rolled down his cheek. "You're crying." Draco sounded alarmed, and Ron hastily wiped it away. "D… do you remember anything?"

Ron paused, wondering whether to tell Draco or not, and then shook his head slowly. He didn't know if Draco bought it or not, but Draco let the subject drop. Draco offered his arm and Ron took it, blinking his tears back. He was careful to not trip on his dress, even in flats. The dress trailed behind him and he tried to hold most of it in his arms. "Don't worry, the elves clean every day. It shouldn't be dirty." At this Ron let go of the dress and let it trail behind him.

Draco led him to the dining room, and Ron almost frozen in shock. About ten Death Eaters stared back at him, and at the head of the table Lord Voldemort was waiting. "Ah, Draco, Rose. Draco, seat Rose at the other end of the table, and take the seat next to him." Draco obeyed smoothly, pulling the chair out for Ron and he dropped into it numbly. He felt Bellatrix Lestrange's piercing gaze into him. "Rose, you see, I decided to join you for dinner today. I did not mention this to either Narcissa or Lucius, which is why we're a bit shorthanded as of now. Of course, Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and you will have to eat, that is what the meal was planned for. I am not hungry, I think I shall just sit here. But other than that, there are five more of my loyal followers here, and they need to be fed. However, I've asked Lucius to only prepare three more. After all, we're already trespassing… how could I ask more?" Ron did not like the feeling that this conversation was giving him. "You see, I'm a very good Legilimens. I'm sure Draco agrees with me." Draco nodded quickly. "But he also doubted me!" Draco's eyes widened, and his fork dropped. "He thinks you're Ronald Weasley. You do bear a striking resemblance to him, Rose. That vivid red hair, your lovely blue eyes… So I've offered three meals for the five here – on whoever can torture you the most to see if we can break that shield of yours or convince Draco that I have not failed."

Draco stood up. "My Lord, I haven't doubted – I mean, I have, but I quickly dismissed the thought. I know your status as a great Legilimens so well, how can a little girl like Rose even stand a chance against - "

"Silence, Draco. We will see."

Ron felt terror flood him as Bellatrix approached him menacingly, a sadistic smirk dancing on her lips. He stumbled backwards, but tripped over the long dress. Lucius had also stood up to say something, but the Dark Lord silence him with a flick of his wand, and Narcissa was staring wide eyed at Rose. Draco was clenching his fists, looking as if he wanted to lunge at the snake-like man. Ron tried to scramble up and run, but Bellatrix whipped her wand out and screamed "CRUCIO!" and pain ripped him apart. He screamed soundlessly, clawing at his skin. He distinctly heard four other screams of the same word, Narcissa's horrified shriek and Draco's beg of mercy. He didn't know how much longer the pain was going on for, but he felt something rush up his throat and onto the floor. The taste of copper barely went noticed in his mouth as he threw blood up again and again onto the marble floor until he collapsed into a heap into his own blood, still twitching in response to the curse.

"That's quite enough." The Dark Lord smiled coldly at Draco. "Nothing, Draco."

"Yes, my Lord." Draco hissed through clenched teeth. Narcissa looked horrified and Lucius seemed to have found his voice.

"Draco, take Rose up immediately to your room. Tend to her as much as you can. Get her into some new clothes, and wash her. I'll be sending up a Healer." Lucius ordered quietly, and Draco sprang from his frozen position and scooped Ron up in one motion. Lucius clapped and house elves appeared immediately to clean up the blood. As Draco ran up the stairs, he heard the Dark Lord chuckle something about having enough to eat for everyone.

-----------

Rose was extremely pale. She had pretty white skin to start with, but she was now as white as paper. The Healer had tested her, and said her lungs and stomach had suddenly ruptured from the intense pain. She had almost died. Draco clenched his fists again. If he hadn't known a few Healing spells, Rose might have… Rose might have… He refused to think about it. Everyone had left, Voldemort cackling madly at him, and Lucius had warned Draco to be careful. "Rose is not a Death Eater. The Dark Lord does not care for beauty, Draco. Just whoever is useful to him. She barely knows any magic… to him she is expendable. Do not give him reasons to repeat what happened today." Draco stared at Rose for a while and then cried out in sheer frustration. How could he let someone so fragile be so tormented? He screamed out again and a pale hand touched his arm. "Rose?" She was smiling weakly up at him, her blue eyes so tired and less bright than they usually were. "Rose." Draco felt tears fall down his cheeks and he let them. "I'm so sorry. God… I know how painful it is… I… I'm so sorry, Rose…" Rose shook her head, and tried to sit up. Draco pushed her back down. "The healer said you have to rest for at least a week. I'll sleep on the floor, you can have my bed today…" By the time Draco had finished speaking, Rose's eyes had closed again and her chest was rising and falling rhythmically. She was asleep. Draco could not help but let a small smile slip. Her body was so tired she could not keep awake.

He stayed watch over Rose for a few more hours before deciding he could barely keep himself awake. He was sat down and was about to fall into the mass of blankets Ellie had pulled out for him when he saw the teddy bear that Rose always carried move. Draco blinked. It was still moving. It was, in fact, feeling Ron's forehead as if checking for a fever. Draco shot up from where he was sitting, and the bear froze. "Oh shit." It said.

The teddy bear was talking. In George Weasley's voice. Or Fred Weasley's voice. Draco fought the urge to whip his wand out and jinx the bear. "Wait, don't leave." Draco said, though he wondered how the bear was going to leave without him catching it. It couldn't Apparate, now could it?

… Could it? Draco grabbed the bear just in case. "It _is_ Ron Weasley. I knew it."

He heard distinct noises from the bear, "Damn you, George! I told you to be careful!"

"I thought he was asleep!"

Draco scowled. "Ahem. So it _is _Ron. I wasn't wrong. So then how can he even perform that high level of Occlumency?"

The teddy bear seemed to glare at him. "Did you honestly think we would send Ron in there if we weren't sure he would be safe? We're not too bad at magic, you know, and before we trained him he was taught by almost everyone else in the order was. Everyone else was taught Legilimency and Occlumency. Most people were pretty good at Legilimency, but it was Ron who was really good at Occlumency." This was highly ridiculous and serious at the same time, Draco thought. A teddy bear is talking to me and telling me Rose is actually Ron Weasley. The teddy bear struggled free of Draco's arms. "Well, this was sort of planned." The bear said mildly. "Don't worry, this doll is capable of producing lots of magic through is, and two of them are the Stunning Charm and the Memory Charm. We came prepared. Oh, and we've already placed a Silencing Charm around the walls."

Draco glared at the toy. "Came prepared, did you?"

The bear had gone back to examining Ron. "Ron's our only baby brother. We needed to know there was someone to keep watch over him. We'll need to bring him back, though. After what happened today… I doubt that it won't happen again. Maybe something even worse next time." The bear looked at Draco. "You'll need to come with us. You aren't as good as Occlumency as Ron is, and you've slipped up, already. If we extract Ron and leave you there, you'll probably be killed."

"I can't leave my parents, they'd get murdered.."

"Then we'll have to erase your memory of this." The teddy bear looked up from the bed. "Can you really bear not knowing where Rose left to? You'll die of worry. She'll have seem to be abducted from her sickbed, and… Malfoy, do you really think we'll just leave your parents to die? We aren't Death Eaters and we aren't the Dark Lord. Don't worry about your parents and just pack up. Oh, and get that stupid ring off of Ron. He knew it was rigged the moment he touched it. We'll have to teach you a thing or two about some stealth magic, too…"

The door suddenly shot open and Draco blanched. The snake-like man stood there, his wand out, his face evil. His parents stood behind him, pale. "Ah. What do we have here?"

------------

Ugh, they seem to be getting shorter by the chapter :x. Reviews are greatly appreciated 3


	4. Escapings

Disclaimer: I don't own… anything.

Warnings: slash, yaoi, whatever you want to call it, boy x boy. Slight hints of harry x ron. Draco x Ron

--------

Chapter 4

--------

Draco froze in his spot. Ron also stiffened, but he was in right enough of a mind to grab his wand. Voldemort seemed to laugh. "So Ronald Weasley was _not _dead and your son was hiding him, Narcissa, Lucius. And you did not know it! Right underneath your noses. Ah, well. They do say that it is the darkest under the light…"

Ron stood up. "Draco wasn't hiding me, he just found out." He pointed his wand at the Dark Lord, who looked highly amused. "Stop trying to poke into my head. You may be a good Legilimens, but I'm a better Occlumens. I wouldn't try it if I were you." Voldemort sneered and then suddenly froze. "I told you not to." Ron hissed. Suddenly loud cracks resounded and in place of the teddy bear were Fred and George. Fred hurried over to protect his younger brother and George moved in front of Draco. "He can't move." Ron stated softly. "I've got him. At least, not for now. But he's struggling."

George looked at the pale parents. "Lift the charm that blocks Apparating." Lucius and Narcissa stared. "Come on! Your son's going to die if you don't."

"No. I'm sure Draco didn't know. The Dark Lord will understand, he is strict but he is reasonable…" Lucius drew his wand. Fred reacted faster and blasted him to the wall. Draco opened his lips to protest, but George quieted him with a glare. Fred flicked his wand at Narcissa and she was forced out of the room by a fiery snake.

Ron shrieked all of a sudden, "Guys, watch out!" But the twins and Draco had little time to prepare as a force knocked them off their feet and into the far wall. "Shit." Ron cursed weakly. Because he was an extremely skilled Occlumens, he had the ability to open his mind to a Legilimens and close his mind so that the Legilimens was trapped in there. He hadn't mastered the ability yet, since the only people who he was able to practice with were Fred and George and they weren't too thrilled about having to struggle to the point where they might hurt their little brother. Voldemort had broken free of the grasp, and he looked livid.

"So." Voldemort hissed, his wand out. Ron took a step back. "You think you're so strong. I would agree, yes… I would like to take you in, mentor you into a powerful Dark Wizard… But it seems that is too much of a risk." His eyes flashed sinisterly. "_Avada Kedavra_."

George and Fred had already scrambled to their feet and were running for their little brother. But George saw the green light inching closer and closer to his baby brother. Time was in slow motion; he was forced to watch the light hit his younger brother… But all of a sudden a blonde boy wrapped himself around Ron's body, and the green light hit Draco's back. Fred froze. Draco Malfoy had just dived in front of Ron and gave up his life. Draco Malfoy had just died for Ron. Draco Malfoy. Malfoy.

Ron shrieked, a horrible sound that made George look away. Ron was trying to support Draco's dead weight and keeping it from falling at the same time, sobbing terribly all the while. The Dark Lord himself looked shocked for what had just happened. Fred grabbed the teddy bear in the moment created by the confusion, and George grabbed Ron, who was still holding on to Draco's limp body. He grabbed the bear that Fred was holding out, and felt the jerk of their body as the modified Portkey brought them to their hiding place.

Fred panted. The plan had been to use the teddy bear to get to the Malfoy Manor, and to use it to come back quickly. The bear activated if and only if both twins were holding it together, so they hadn't expected any difficulties. Especially not one in the form of the Dark Lord himself. They had been able to reach Hagrid's hut, and had put thousands upon thousands of spells around the hut. Even if they were broken down, they would have ample time to Disapparate. "Ron… There's nothing we can do for him now… Ron…"

"No – no! _Accio Elder Wand!_"

Silence was only broken by the wand slicing through air and landing in Ron's open palms. "Ron." Fred spoke in a pained whisper. "We can't use it again. Dumbledore said it would only work twice for us, remember? We used it once to turn you into a girl. We have to use it to turn you back… Or use it to kill Voldemort… We can't bring him back to life anyway…"

Ron shook his head fiercely. "No! That – that spell that Hermione found in the books… The one to undo Avada Kedavra.."

George grabbed Ron's wrist. "But – but we don't even know if it actually works! The book said it required tremendous power, not to mention that it only works within five minutes of the death. If it doesn't work we'd have wasted a spell, and – RON!"

Ron wrenched his hands from George's hand. "That's why I need to do it now! _Abracadabra._" Ron blurted the spell, and streaks of white flowed from wand into Draco. Fred watched, his heart beating rapidly. Abracadabra. It was something Muggles said to imitate magic. But it actually was the most powerful spell there was. George caught Ron as he fell forward. "Did… did it work…?" Ron's voice was faint.

Fred bent down to check, but he didn't need to – Draco stirred, gave a faint groan and blinked his eyes open. He blinked at the three redheads, as if he was seeing something he shouldn't be. Ron smiled and sighed in relief, and the wand he was clutching tightly rolled out of his hands as he fainted.

Draco shot up. "What… the… hell… is… going… on…?" He said each word as if he was trying to still comprehend. "I died." Draco bit his lips. "I _felt_ the beam hit me. I was just floating there, wondering when I was gonna move on. I know I did."

George carried Ron to the bed. "Ron revived you." He said simply, and tucked Ron in under the covers. "By the way, now that you're here, you can't back out on us anymore. It would break Ron apart, too. He just gave up the chance to turn back into a guy for you." He looked directly into Draco's eyes. "The elder wand. Dumbledore gave it to Ron just before he and Harry and Snape died that mysterious death." George looked back at his twin, who was busying himself with making food. "Ron reckons they aren't really dead. I suppose it's true, too." He looked at Ron.

"You can't betray us." Fred's voice was tense. "You'd have to pact an Unbreakable with us. We put too much into this, into Ron's safety to let it just fall away because of you." He drew his sleeve up, and Draco quickly followed. Neither Fred nor George commented on Draco's willingness to do it, perhaps because they both knew that in the first place he would not have betrayed them anyway.

Fred took Draco's hand. "Do you promise never to betray us?" It was a small sentence, but it carried so much meaning.

Draco's icy blue eyes bore straight into Fred's dark chocolate orbs. "Yes." He answered clearly, and a stream of fire coiled between both male's arms and wound tightly around them. George sighed as he ended the spell. Draco touched his arms where the fire had touched him, and then looked at Ron. "We… er… really can't turn him back?" He looked over at Ron, who didn't look sick. It took him a moment to realize he was just deep in sleep.

Fred snorted. "No. He used the Elder Wand to revive _you_." He picked up the wand Draco had seen in Dumbledore's grasp so many times. "Dumbledore said it would only listen to us for two spells. We were planning on using them to turn Ronnie into a girl and back – or if the chance permits killing Voldemort – but I guess not, anymore." He looked at the wand. "We think that's why at least Dumbledore's alive. If he's dead, see, the wand would've listened to us since he gave it over to us to use."

Draco nodded along and looked at the sleeping figure on the bed. So he'd been right from the beginning. Rose _was_ Ron. He touched Ron's face and felt the soft skin under his fingertips, and couldn't help but smile lightly. He knelt down and took Ron's hand, and Ron squeezed it lightly in sleep. "You know," Fred looked at their hands. "Ron has always liked you."

Before Draco could question him, Fred had turned on his heels to attend to his cooking. "Doesn't the smoke get detected?"

George looked wounded that Draco would even consider they had looked over that obvious fact. "Of course not. We've completely hidden this house, no worry about that. All four of us are its Secret Keepers now." The two put out three plates, and motioned Draco to come and sit. Draco eased his hand out of Ron's hold, and came to sit opposite Fred and beside George. "We're not that great. Ronnie's much better at cooking than we are… Plus, it's what you Malfoys would call "peasant dishes"… but go on, dig in."

Draco picked up the fork and did just that. He hadn't realized how hungry he had been until he was sitting in front of food. They were mostly things he had never tasted before. At home and at Hogwarts the house elves cooked a feast, but what was sitting in front of him tasted delicious anyway. George cut a piece of meat – beef, it looked like – and placed it in front of him, and he wolfed that down as well. Fred chuckled. "Thanks for eating it so deliciously. You must've been starving or something…"

When Draco was done with the food, something struck him as odd. "Er. Where did you get all this?"

George shrugged. "We, er, get it from Muggles. Harry left us his Invisibility Cloaks, so we just sorta took it. We leave money in their cashier boxes so it's technically not stealing. We just don't like being seen."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "…Where did you get the money?"

"George and I made a whole load of money with our joke shop, you know… and now that none of the other Weasleys are alive all of their money flowed down to us… It's quite a lot. We're still making some money off the joke shop, too, but you should've known that already…"

Draco nodded. The Death Eaters had tried to track the twins through the network, but the Weasley twins were way too smart and too good at magic for them to be caught that easily. All it had done had ended in were the Death Eaters losing a bunch of Galleons. In the end, Draco guessed, he hadn't suffered much. He looked back at the redhead sleeping on the bed. "Is he going to wake up soon?"

George shrugged. "I doubt it. But at least we know he's okay, just tired." He started to clear the plates and Draco hurried to help. "… That's more than I can ask for." Draco looked at the twin who had taken the plates, placed them in the sink and cleaned the mess from it with a flick of his wand. He realized just what just what kind of a life the Weasleys led. They wanted nothing but for each other to be safe. Knowing that with enough time he was going to be included in this tight knot of love made Draco feel warm inside, something he had never felt before. Sure, he had been fawned over by his parents before, but the love that the Weasleys shared seemed to be something completely different. There was complete trust in between one another, and there was complete love, and a need for each other.

He looked at the three redheads, and wished for a day he would someday belong.

-------

"Hrgh." The figure on the bed let out a moan, and Draco hurried to Ron. It had been almost a day since the redhead had passed out, and he had been starting to get worried. "Ugh…" Draco helped Ron sit up, and sapphire eyes bore into him. "You're alive." Ron sounded incredulous.

Draco thought the fact that Ron would tell him this, out of everyone else, was amusing. "… You brought me back to life." He pointed out, and Ron fell back into his pillows. Draco moved, alarmed, but he stopped when he saw that Ron was laughing.

"Right. How could I forget?" Ron had thrown his arm over his eyes. "But you're alive." He moved his arm away and smiled up radiantly at Draco. "I can't believe how relieved I am. There used to be, you know, once upon a time where if someone told me that Draco Malfoy was saved I would've hated that person forever." Ron sat up by himself, though he did grab on to Draco for support to get up off the bed. "That was before I got to know the real Draco Malfoy." Draco blushed, and Ron chuckled. "Mind you, you were still a git. I can't believe you rigged the ring. Oh, no. I left it on the bedside table!" He looked genuinely upset. "Well, you'll just have to buy me another one, one that isn't rigged with detecting magic this time."

Draco looked up, wide-eyed. "How did you know?"

Ron snorted, sitting himself down at the kitchen table where Fred and George had left a covered plate of food for when Draco got hungry. Draco didn't protest when Ron started to dig in. "You've got a lot to learn. When you're one of the three that the most evil person in the whole world wants, you start noticing how rigged things feel. I guess it's four now." Ron eyed Draco, taking another gigantic bite out of the chicken leg.

Draco could not believe this was the quiet, shy Rose, but he surprised himself by finding himself not at all disgusted, but more fond of what Ron was doing now. "How the hell did you manage to keep that appetite down when you were at my house?"

Ron waved a chicken bone at him. "You know, when your life's on the line, you start doing things you never thought you could. Plus, I'm not usually like this. I've been starving for a while here. Er, I think. How long was I out, anyway? Oh, and where're Fred and George?" He broke the bread in two and dipped the piece in the soup.

Draco stared. "You're not supposed to eat that like that, I think." Ron looked down at what he was doing, chuckled at himself and took a bite out of the bread. "A day, almost. Er… Fred and George said they were going into Hogwarts to see if they could salvage anything."

Ron nodded, taking another bite. "Lots of things in Hogwarts were enchanted with really advanced magic, so most of it's probably really in good shape even now. Plus, Fred and George did say that they wanted to check out the Room of Requirements." He gulped down the rest of the bread and started on the soup. "We should go check it out when they come back." He grinned. "Lots of cool things there. Plus the portraits are always amusing to talk to. I think George and Fred enchanted one of the frames here so the Fat Lady could come out – look, there she is. Hey." Ron turned to face the small frame.

"Well, you sure are stuffing yourself. And who is this?" Her face turned to shock. "Draco Malfoy?! Have you dears lost your mind, or - " She was stammering because of her shock.

"It's okay." Fred materialized in the middle of the room all of a sudden. "He's made an Unbreakable with us. Plus he's head-over-heels in love with Ronnie." He smirked when both the redhead and the blonde blushed scarlet. "Anyhow, here you go, Ron, I know you've been itching to get in there. George went in the back to get us few of the plants to eat – ah, there he is. Well, off you go. Snuggle tightly under there, it's a little small for two grown men." Fred eyed Ron. "Oh, right. Er. Maybe it won't be too small, then." He threw the Cloak over Draco and Ron, and the two moved closer to make sure their feet were covered.

It ended up with Draco with one arm around Ron while Ron held the Cloak off their faces. It took Draco a few moments to get used to walking so closely to another person, but he quickly got used to it and Draco fingered the waist his hand was on. "You make a really nice looking girl." He commented slowly, wondering if it would insult Ron. Ron snorted at him, and they entered the school walls. "Whoa."

The inside of Hogwarts was noticeably worn down, and ghosts seemed to have made it a home for them. Ron kept the cloak on them, explaining that the last time he had been there, a Death Eater had almost caught them. "Lots of students here… I think the Creevey brothers are here, there you go, there they are - " Ron took Draco around the Gryffindor tower, past the portrait that hung slanted and open. "Oh, there's Seamus…" Ron looked like he wanted to throw the cloak off to greet his former roommate, but Draco held him close tightly.

He could not, however, keep his grasp when he saw the image of a familiar girl. Ron threw the cloak off of him and stood in front of the ghost. "Hermione." He whispered, and the girl smiled sadly back. "You're still here."

She sat down on one of the couches and looked at Ron. "Yeah. Fred and George still need my help a lot around the castle. Once they don't need my help anymore I'll pass on. I heard about what happened. I can't believe you managed to pull the spell off, Ron, I'm so proud of you." She smiled up brightly at Ron, who looked as if he was going to cry. Draco knew that the girl was extremely important to Ron, so he slid the cloak off of him and stood back. "Hello, Malfoy." She said kindly, and he greeted back. He leaned on the wall, keeping his ears open. The two chatted quietly, Ron sniffling softly and Hermione's voice was hollow but warm.

"Fuck." Draco hissed, and he threw the cloak over Ron and clamped a hand over his mouth.

Ron held his breath as footsteps entered the room and Hermione floated calmly upward. "Who were you talking to?" Draco recognized the man as Rookwood. The pair took calm steps backwards, away from the room, making sure they were touching nothing. Hermione ignored the man and floated around the room, entering the girl's dormitory. The man followed roughly, but the stairs flattened to a slide and Ron had to stifle a laugh as the man slid down, cursing loudly. Draco seemed bemused and amused, and Ron took his wrist and they scrambled up the stairs to the boy's dormitory.

"The spell for the Apparition should be off." Ron explained, and within seconds they found themselves back in Hagrid's hut. "Well, there you go." Ron stumbled slightly at their landing, but the two seemed to have come in one piece. He still looked worried. "I guess the only comfort I can get right now is that Hermione can't get hurt… unless they set a basilisk on her… But she's smart enough to avoid them… Oh, I mean, I guess she might have looked at it through the mirror in our second year… but she's tons smarter now…" Ron was rambling to himself, looking extremely worried. He reached for something on the desk and tied his red hair up in a high ponytail, and sat on the bed. He looked down on himself. "Gosh, I'm still in this stupid dress." He muttered, but started to chew on his nails. "Maybe I should go back, I'm really worried about her." Ron stood up, but Draco grabbed his slender waist and pulled him back down, and their lips met.

-------

SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATES 3

Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	5. Acceptings

Disclaimer: I don't own… anything.

Warnings: slash, yaoi, whatever you want to call it, boy x boy. Slight hints of harry x ron. Draco x Ron

--------

Chapter 5

--------

Ron broke away quickly, blushing bright red. "St-stop that!" He had his back turned to Draco, and his hands were attempting to cool his flaming cheeks. "Stop making me feel confused." He whispered, looking away. Draco raised an eyebrow. Ron was blushing a bright red, his long red hair clashing horribly with the color. He was wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"It was accidental." Draco muttered, but added slyly, "I guess that means I'm starting to sway you away from Potter, eh?" When he mentioned Harry's name he saw Ron's face turn even redder. "The rumors were true, then? That Potter was fucking you?" He saw Ron turn even a more comical shade of red and start to splutter. "Really now, Ron. I didn't think you'd like being the receiver. I suppose, though, Potter would never stand for being the receiver." He was actually quite amused seeing the redhead turn various shades of red.

Ron stood up and, still pressing his hands in an attempt to both cover his flaming cheeks and to cool them down, briskly walked toward the kitchen area. Draco followed. Ron motioned him to sit on the dining table, and asked, "Are you hungry? I could cook something up for you if you want." Draco didn't mention that it was about two in the afternoon and that he had eaten lunch before Fred and George had left, and that Ron had also just eaten.

He tilted his head. "Fred said you can make anything."

Ron looked at Draco. The blush was mostly gone from his face, but his cheeks remained stained pink. "Well, if we have the ingredients and I know how to make it." Draco hummed low in his throat and started to place orders, most of them just to see if Ron could actually make it. Ron called a cookbook to his side out of nowhere and starting to call ingredients to his side as well. He eyed Draco sternly. "If you're making me make all this, you better be finishing all of it, too. Mind you, I don't know how _any_ of these things are supposed to taste, so you'll have to do a taste check for me whenever I call for it." Draco nodded his assent and watched Ron wave his wand around to light fires, chop vegetables and beat eggs.

Draco observed Ron. The way his front teeth bit his cherry red lips softly when he frowned over the cookbook. The way his brilliant, sapphire blue eyes scanned the pages. The way his slender wrist flicked his wand this way and that expertly. The way he placed his non-wand arm on his hips. The way he shifted his weight from one slim leg to the other. The way his pink tongue darted out to lick his lips after he tasted something. The way he held the spoon out for Draco to taste. The way his white hand kept pushing his long, crimson locks back.

Draco sighed impatiently and waved his wand in the air. A white silk ribbon fell into his hands and he stood up, took Ron's red tresses. "Stand still for a second." He combed his long fingers through the soft strands and pulled Ron's hair together and tied it off in a loose, low ponytail. Ron blushed again and mumbled a thanks, and went back to his cooking. In a few more minutes he was done, and Draco looked at the feast in front of him. "I really asked you to cook this much?"

Ron glared at him, turning for a moment from cleaning the kitchen up. "I _told_ you you'd better finish all of it." He stuck his tongue out, and Draco picked up his fork, unsure where to start. Ron pulled up the chair across from him and sat down, his dainty fingers picking up a piece of bread and chewing on it. "Well?" He eyed Draco as he took the first bite. "How is it?"

Draco looked at his spoon as if he could not believe it. "It's… it's really good. Better than the stuff the house elves used to cook…"

Ron snorted, took another bite out of his bread and swallowed it. "I'll think of it as a compliment." He watched Draco eat for a while in silence, occasionally taking a bite out of his bread, and when he was done, picking up another piece. Draco felt those amazingly beautiful blue eyes penetrating his every move. "Draco, why did you come with us? Why didn't you leave? You left your parents for us. You could have left, get on the best side of You-Know-Who."

Draco snorted. "I doubt your brothers would have let me go." He cut off a large piece of steak and chewed it thoroughly before continuing. "Plus, I already _told_ you the reason why I wanted to stay with you." When Ron gave him a blank stare, Draco snorted. "Excuse me. I keep forgetting that I'm talking to the most forgetful person on earth save Longbottom. It was less than a week ago, you know." Draco pointed his fork at Ron. "Remember? I told Rose that I love Ronald Weasley." Ron blinked at him and then turned a scarlet red. "I wasn't lying." His ice-blue gaze looked straight into Ron's sapphire. "You're the person I love the most. I've never felt this way about quite anyone before."

Silence stretched thickly out over both of them. Ron looked at the bread in his hands and spoke up quietly. "You're not trying to… make a joke out of this, are you?" Draco looked up, looking hurt. "No, then." Ron corrected himself quickly. "Draco, I look like this now, but I'm actually a guy. I mean, are you - "

Draco cut him short. "I told you. The person I love is Ron, not Rose." He stood up, walked to where Ron was sitting, blushing red and apparently finding the piece of bread very interesting. Draco gently held Ron's chin in his hand and tilted Ron's face up. "I'm going to kiss you, Ron, and on purpose this time, too. If you don't want me to, I suggest you tell me now." Ron's eyes fluttered close as an answer, and Draco bent down, pressing his lips to Ron's. The kiss was gentle at first, but Ron's arms wrapped around Draco's shoulders, and Draco's free hand held the back of Ron's head, pressing the redhead into his kiss.

"Well, don't let us bother you, now."

The two sprung apart with a loud clatter, Ron blushing scarlet and Draco also flushed bright red. Fred and George stood in the middle of the room, looking highly amused. The twins sat down at the table and started eating, commenting on how great the food was, apparently paying no attention to how silent and red the younger two were. When they were done eating, George stood up, ruffled Ron's hair and said, "Practice safe sex! Remember condoms, boys."

Fred snickered. "Especially since one of you can get pregnant right now." The two laughed and ran off before the plates and forks Ron threw in their direction could hit them. They cleaned the mess up with a simple Reparo and a Scurgio, and launched off upstairs, laughing their head off.

Draco could hardly believe that they were actually the most wanted people by the most dangerous wizard of all time. He watched Ron expertly stack dishes from their places on the floor – this throwing of dishes seemed like a not-so-rare thing. "They tease you often, huh?" Ron nodded, looking sour. "Just means they care about you, you know." Ron's eyes softened, and he nodded. He sat down on the bed and flopped down.

His sapphire blue gaze penetrated Draco's ice blue. Draco found himself enraptured in the gaze, unable to turn away from it. "I guess that means they approve."

Draco blinked. "Of?"

Ron turned on his stomach and placed his elbows on the bed, resting his chin on his right hand. He pointed to Draco using his left. "You." The slender finger pointed to its owner. "And Me. Us. What, all of a sudden you don't want to go out with me?" When Draco's eyes widened, he smiled. "I've learned not to wait, you know? Tomorrow I may be dying, or you may be dying, and I may realize that all of a sudden that you're the person I've loved all my life. Live for today, as George always says." He flopped back on his back. "And I'm still wearing this bloody dress." He got up, and waited at the foot of the steps, looking at Draco expectantly. Draco got up to follow.

George walked out of the shower shirtless, rubbing his hair with a towel. "Ronnie, your room is the one on the end. I guess you two can share, the bed in there's a King. All your clothes are there too, if you want to finally change out of that dress. Oh, Ronnie, remember what I said about the whole watching out thing." He winked, and disappeared into one of the rooms. Ron blushed brightly again and waved his wand, and a plate flew straight toward George. George caught it. "Ooh, Ronnie, getting rusty." He chuckled, and kissed his younger brother's forehead before he disappeared into the room.

"Rusty?" Draco made a note to not get on Ron's bad side, if he had a habit of conjuring plates and hurling them at people when he was pissed. "That didn't seem rusty. It was right at his face. If he hadn't caught it, it would've hit him in the face…"

Ron pushed the door open. "Usually hits them right in the face. Doesn't make them bleed, don't worry, just gives them a black eye or two for a day…" He grinned evilly at Draco. "Since you're part of the family now, I would not piss me off. Unless you like plates in your face."

The way Ron said "part of the family" made Draco's heart jump. "Er, probably not. Why plates?"

Ron stopped. "Hmm. I dunno. They were just the first things I taught myself to Conjure. Back when we were camping out basic utensils and plates weren't exactly common. Fred and George did forks and spoons and knives already cause they're pretty good weapons when you're in a tight spot, but not plates, so I taught myself to do plates. I guess it's cause they're the things I can Conjure without thinking much about it."

Draco sat down on the bed. "… You do know you're talking about really advanced magic as if it was nothing. You're the best Occlumens there is, and the twins are bloody good Legilimens, too, aren't they? And now you're talking about Conjuring anything. You've mastered the cooking spells, too, which aren't the easiest spells to learn. Not to mention that you brought me back to life. _That_ can't have been a simple spell. Oh, and I don't have to mention the layers of protective spells around this place. Also, the teddy bear - that was a good piece of magic. And…"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Fred and George have always been good at magic. Plus, if you're running for your lives like us, it just gets good automatically." He pulled out a large shirt and pulled it on. The shirt fell down almost to his knees, and Draco watched Ron reach under the shirt, and in moments the dress pooled at Ron's feet. Draco felt his body heat up. No matter what, he was still a man, and the fact that he knew Ron was wearing nothing under the shirt, which could be pushed up so easily, so extremely arousing. Ron seemed to notice, and he stuck his tongue out. "See? I knew you would be turned on by girls."

Ron climbed into bed, snuggling into the pillow. "It's only about 3 in the afternoon, and you woke up about two hours ago. Less." Draco pointed out, and Ron glared. "You can't tell me you're tired already." He leaned over Ron. "And you little fucker. I'm not turned on cause you're a girl, I'm turned on cause you're _you_." He planted a firm kiss on Ron's lips, and climbed in after Ron, blushing furiously but turning his body to face the other side so Ron could not see.

---------

"Rise and shine, beauty and the beast." Fred's voice shook the two out of their sleep. "It's about 2 in the morning, and we have to move out if we want to get anywhere. Get your ass up, Draco, you've been asleep for over 12 hours. How are we supposed to save the world if you're like that, huh? And Ronnie, you've been awake for two hours in the last 24 hours. So get your asses up. I know I said get rest when you can, but this is different now – it's pretty safe, so I suggest you two get back to your normal sleeping patterns." Fred helped Ron dress quickly, and threw Draco a bag. "We got all we could from your closet before we got caught." He explained. Draco opened the bag to see mountains of his stuff in the tiny bag, crammed to the top. The bag obviously had some sort of extendable charm on it.

Fred pointed to the closet in the corner of the room, and Draco opened it to find that the closet, too, had an extendable charm on it. He started to put his stuff away, and Ron came along, fully dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and started to help it. Draco could not help but wonder, and his eyes drifted to Ron's chest. Ron noticed immediately and slapped his wrist. "I'm wearing a bra, if that's what you were wondering."

Fred snickered as he left, but poked his head back in to say, "Ronnie, it's dinner time and your precious older brothers are hungry."

Ron got up, dusting his jeans off and muttering, "Precious older brothers my ass." He bent down to peck Draco on his cheek. "Any orders?"

"Er. No, anything you whip up is fine." Draco watched Ron run out the door, and listened to the patter of his bare feet as he ran down the stairs. He would never understand Ron. Once they were at each other's throats, and now all of a sudden he was acting as if Draco had been his lover since forever. Not that Draco was complaining. Soon the smell of the delicious cooking wafted upward, and Draco heard Ron's feet patter on the stairs again.

"Dinner's ready, and get your ass down if you don't want to be eating the twin's leftovers." Ron waited until Draco got up from his closet. "You have more clothes than a girl, Draco Malfoy." Ron awed, but Draco ushered him out of the room before Ron could think of any witty jabs at his amount of clothing.

George greeted them. "Smells great, don't it, Draco? Sit, eat yourself full." George beckoned to one of the seats across from them. Draco sat down in one and Ron sat down right next to him. The dinner table was filled with pleasant, warm chatter. Ron's estrogen level seemed to have affected his brain as well. Or maybe not. Ronald Weasley was always rather talkative. His brothers supported the chatter gently, sounding genuinely interested in what their baby brother had to say. Draco looked up from his food to the twins. Their attention was focused mostly on Ron, and Draco saw love and affection and warmth all exuding from the twins.

They cared for their little brother. They loved their baby brother so much. It showed in everything they did, now that Draco thought about it. They were eating, but they were paying more attention to their little brother than to what they were putting in their mouth. Ron was their everything, Draco realized, like he has become my everything.

-----

Ugh. I'm sorry for the extremely late, short, and uneventful chapter. :x

Still, reviews are greatly appreciated. 3


End file.
